Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight.

Night had fallen, and the Aindora mansion was at its quietest time of day.

The wall lamp at the end of the corridor was still lit, its soft magic crystal light filtering through the translucent lampshade and spilling onto the carpet like a thin layer of frost. The servants had finished their day's work, and the only sounds in the entire mansion were the occasional, almost inaudible footsteps.

Rune lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The ceiling was rather dim in the night, and Rune was getting a little tired of looking at it.

He rolled over and faced the wall.

Suddenly the door was pushed open.

It was a very soft sound; if Rune hadn't been awake, it would have been almost inaudible.

He didn't move, remaining facing the wall, but simply pricked up his ears.

The faint sound of footsteps—barefoot on the carpet, almost inaudible, just a very slight rustling. Then came a rustling sound, like something being dragged.

Before Rune could turn around, a corner of the blanket behind him was lifted, and a warm little thing crawled in.

"Onii-chan—"

Lajus's voice was very low, with a hint of guilt in her breath, as she placed a small hand on Rune's shoulder, "Are you asleep?"

Rune was silent for a second.

"Going to sleep."

"Liar." Lajus poked his shoulder. "You can still talk while you're asleep?"

"daydream."

Lagisu burst out laughing, quickly covering her mouth while poking him with her other hand: "Onii-chan is so silly, you wouldn't talk like that in your sleep."

Rune turned away helplessly.

By the moonlight streaming in through the window, he could see Lahas clearly—her golden hair was a little messy, obviously from rolling around on his pillow. She was clutching a pillow in her arms, her "equipment." She was wearing a white nightgown, the lace at the neckline askew, probably from running over.

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, falling on her face and illuminating her bright, sparkling eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Rune asked.

"I can't sleep," Lahoz said matter-of-factly.

"So you're here to bother me?"

"It's not because it's noisy." Laju put the pillow in her arms back down, then shrank further into the blankets, leaving only her eyes showing. "It's because I'm keeping Onii-chan company. I'm scared to sleep alone."

"When did I ever say I was afraid?"

"Onii-chan didn't say, but..." Lajus blinked, "but I think Onii-chan might be scared. So I came to keep you company."

Rune looked at her.

Those eyes shone brightly in the darkness, filled with undisguised seriousness.

He wanted to say that I didn't need to stay with you, that you're the younger sister and I should be the one to stay with you, and that you should go back to sleep and go to class tomorrow.

But in the end he didn't say anything.

She simply moved aside to make more room for Lajus.

"Go to sleep."

"Mmm!" Lajus responded contentedly, then suddenly seemed to remember something, "Onii-chan, tomorrow..."

"I have classes all day tomorrow, and I've already spent the whole afternoon playing with you today."

"I know." Lajus's voice carried a hint of something else. "But... Onii-chan, can you take me out to play tomorrow?"

Rune paused for a moment.

"Want to go out and have some fun?"

"Hmm." Lajus pulled the blanket down further, revealing her entire face, and looked at him earnestly. "Just going out for a trip. Not far, just a walk around outside. I heard from Butler Aldred that the market in the capital is very lively, with all sorts of things for sale..."

Her voice gradually lowered, but her eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if she had captured all those lively scenes in her pupils.

Rune looked at her and suddenly remembered that afternoon a few months ago.

It was the same request back then, but he made it himself—he wanted to tease his overly obedient sister and see her panicked.

"Lahagi, let's skip class tomorrow, okay? How about Onii-chan takes you out to play?"

Little Lajus's eyes widened like a frightened fawn. She nervously twisted the hem of her skirt, her voice trembling with tears, "But...but Teacher Cecilia will be angry...and Father will too..."

I went in the end anyway.

Rune, carrying a top student who was on the verge of tears, secretly slipped out of the manor. The morning sun was shining brightly, and the streets were bustling with people. Lajus went from being nervous at first, to being so attracted by the toy stall that she couldn't walk away, and then on the way back, she hugged the little trinkets and smiled with her eyes curving into crescents—Rune still remembers that smile to this day.

They were prepared to be scolded and tiptoed back to the mansion.

However, nothing happened.

The Earl was still in his study handling official business. He merely nodded when he saw them, seemingly unaware of anything amiss. The next day in class, Ms. Cecilia didn't mention the previous day's events at all, only a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

Rune later figured it out—Cecilia was probably happy to be idle, getting paid for doing nothing, and who would tell on such a good thing?

Rune knows this all too well.

He just didn't expect that from then on, Lajus would be like a switch had been flipped.

"Onii-chan, can we go again tomorrow?"

"Onii-chan, this weekend..."

"Onii-chan, I heard a new one opened on East Street..."

The soft, sweet calls of "Onii-chan" came crashing down on him, and Rune found himself completely overwhelmed. He began to carefully try to find a balance between Cecilia-sensei and Lajus, counting down the days to plan his "trips." If he did it too often, Cecilia-sensei would definitely find out from her father.

At a young age, Rune became a master of time management.

Unable to resist Lajus's repeated calls of "Onii-chan," Rune was forced to agree.

Anyway, it's been a month since I skipped class last time, so it should be fine, right?

The moonlight fell quietly on the pillow, and Lahoz's breathing gradually calmed down. Rune turned his head and looked at the sleeping little face, her eyelashes casting a light shadow in the moonlight.

He suddenly felt a little dazed.

The more a person possesses, the less courage they have.

Plan A, the conservative version, is still too risky.

Alternatively, we could implement Plan B, which is the least risky and simplest approach in the early stages. It's so simple that Rune doesn't need to write out a complex decision tree on paper.

run away.

The whole family moved to the Argland Council.

The Kingdom of Argrand is located northwest of the Kingdom of Ri Yesteje. Its territory is a peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides, with a mountainous terrain, and it faces the Kingdom of Lobul across the sea.

This is also the kingdom that, up to the time of Rune's previous incarnation, had not yet been conquered by Ainz Ooal Gown in the latest volume of Maruyama's story.

Hiding here can ensure temporary peace, and with his uncle Azis Eindora also working there, it won't be difficult to gain a foothold.

However, the reality of this alternate world is not Maruyama's novel.

The old thief can just stop updating whenever he wants, but Ainz Ooal Gown won't stop his conquest.

"I could probably live a carefree life for another two or three years if I escaped to the Council of Argrand." Rune pondered this with difficulty, as his previous life was quite a long time ago.

As for the surrounding human countries, Ainz Ooal Gown has conquered almost all of them.

It's not even as good as a kingdom. If you run around and get caught like a sheep, you'll really be worse off than dead.

As a supplier of raw materials for human skin rolls, they are considered good.

If I became Demiurge's grafting experiment, grafting orc materials onto myself, wouldn't I become a "burnt Fury"?

That's the real deal when it comes to spicy meatballs.

Rune had no intention of going to the orc kingdom.

Even if the Eindora family went, they would only become a dish.

This is a dish in the true sense of the word. Many orcs in this world enjoy eating people, even 600 years ago, before the six great gods traveled here.

Humans are domesticated like livestock, and the beastmen don't care whether you're a noble or not. Perhaps in their value system, the meat of human nobles tastes better.

Rune regained his senses and realized that he still couldn't execute Plan B.